5 Reasons to Interact with Fanfiction
Def: fanfiction: content created using previously published characters or settings
Most posted definitions of fanfiction denigrate the storytelling form into wish-fulfillment. While this can be true, it doesn’t have to be and often isn’t, so, let’s get down to five reasons you should interact with fanfiction.
Strengthen those writing muscles:
Fanfiction—commonly known as fanfic—provides people of any age a means to practice writing, experimenting with methods and styles without having to create a world, characters, or situations from scratch—a valuable time-saver.
Find great stories:
I’ve come across a number of excellently written fanfics from a variety of genres, subjects, and writers. A few recent examples include: Samsara, a compelling story told from an antagonist’s point-of-view that is so sympathetic it leaves the reader wondering who the real antagonist is; Across the Stars, a Star Wars piece told in such an authentic voice it’s hard not to actually hear the main character speaking; Goodnight Nobody, a touching tale from the perspective of a little girl which draws readers into her world and though we know what’s happening before she does, we still feel for her and wish we could intervene in her situation.
While uncovering jewels in the wasteland of average fanfiction can be a challenge, when you find one, you know it, and the hunt makes the find that much more rewarding.
Uncover personal significance:
Writing fanfiction can hold deep meaning for its creators. Though it’s true that much of fanfiction is a dumping ground for unfinished, unpublished, uninspired work, the same can be said of any writer’s “Unfinished Work” folder hidden in the recesses of their computer or Cloud storage. But for some of us, writing fanfic comes from a place of personal significance whether in connection to a particular fandom (body of preexisting work) or even a single character. Bits of who we are and why we’ve become ourselves is buried in our work, and you never know what you might discover about someone by reading their stories.
Level-up your analysis:
Reading fanfiction is an opportunity to practice critical thinking and analytical skills. Instead of reading a polished, edited, published novel, fanfic readers interact with material often before a thorough edit takes place, allowing them opportunity to influence the creation process and discover how to verbalize what did and didn’t work for them in a story—a valuable skill in any form of written media (including those pesky emails to your boss).
While writing my recent fanfic piece, Remember When, I enlisted the help of a beta-reader whose input on my original draft caused me to completely reconsider 90% of the story, even up to changing the verb tense, and it’s a much better story as a result of that tremendous feedback.
Meet new friends:
Meeting people can be a challenge, but online interaction helps reduce those challenges. Interacting with fanfiction poses opportunities to find fellow readers and writers who share your interests, struggles, opinions, or just like the same brand of peanut butter.
Fanfiction sites like Fanfiction.net, and Archive of Our Own provide forums, review mechanics, messaging, discussion threads, and comment sections all enabling users to have conversations with others around the world. Just as with any other online theater, never give out too much personal info, and be aware of lurkers and trolls whose only goal in life is to make other’s lives difficult (Helpful tip: ignoring them is typically an effective deterrent).
I’ve met numerous fellow writers on fanfiction sites who’ve shared wonderful insights over the years.
Stay tuned for more reasons to interact with fanfiction.